4.8 Stars (out of 5) - Rated PG-13

Synopsis

The classic Battleship board game moves to the big screen in this at-sea adventure about defending planet Earth from a mysterious enemy fleet. At the center of the action is a pair of naval officer brothers and their commanding superior.

Starring:

Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, Gregory D. Gadson, Hamish Linklater, Peter MacNicol, Jesse Plemons

Director:

Peter Berg

Blu-ray Release Date:

August 28, 2012

Subtitles:

English SDH, French, Spanish

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:

Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 5.0 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

Subwoofer - 5.0 Stars

Dialog - 5.0 Stars

Surround Effects - 5.0 Stars

Dynamic Range - 5.0 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish: DTS 5.1, French: DTS 5.1

Blu-ray audio was made for movies like this. It fires on all cylinders and gets your home theater running at top speeds. The subwoofer gets a good workout with sounds of falling buildings, heavy alien footsteps, rumbles seem to be constant throughout the movie, and of course the hundreds of explosions are deep, wide, and turn you couch into a massage chair with all of the vibrations. Dialog is top notch and the range is hard to ignore with high pitched sounds of shattering glass to the low rumbles of the giant battleship. The rear speakers have constant action with sounds of missiles, jets flying overhead, water splashes, gunfire, flying spaceships, and lots of explosions.

Video 4.8 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

Color Accuracy - 5.0 Stars

Shadow detail - 4.5 Stars

Clarity - 4.5 Stars

Skin tones - 5.0 Stars

Compression - 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect ratio: 2.40:1, Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Battleship looks great, colors are lush, warm, and deep. Fire shines bright red, alien metal shimmers in the sun, ocean water has amazing deep blue colors, and trees are lush and velvety green. Since the colors are warm, skin tones are a little in the reddish side but, they don't look unnatural. Dark colors are nice and deep, but a few details are lost to the shadows in a some scenes. Film grain is low and the lens flare count is high. Clarity is good and brings out the details in pores and freckles on faces, loose hairs, leaves on trees, and sweat.

Bonus Features 4.5 Stars (out of 5)

All Access with Director Peter Berg (HD, 140 minutes): Berg hosts this excellent Maximum Movie Mode-esque Picture-in-Picture video commentary, complete with interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, featurettes, production tidbits and breakaway sessions with Berg.

Alternate Ending Previsualization (HD, 8 minutes)

USS Missouri VIP Tour (HD, 20 minutes): Berg, Michael Carr (President of the USS Missouri Memorial Association), and Reginald H. Johnson (USS Missouri Senior Tour Guide) take viewers on a tour of the Missouri.

Preparing for Battle (HD, 11 minutes): A look at the Battleship board game with the filmmakers.

All Hands on Deck: The Cast (HD, 12 minutes): The director discusses how much he enjoyed working with his cast.

Engage in Battle (HD, 7 minutes): Two at-sea featurettes: "Shooting at Sea" and "All Aboard the Fleet."

Commander Pete (HD, 6 minutes): Takes a look at the style of the director.

The Visual Effects (HD, 12 minutes): A featurette discussing the details of the special effects.

Second Screen Experience

My Scenes Bookmarking

Movie - 3.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review

Battleship is a fun over the top blockbuster movie, that's been poorly judged because it was based on the silly premise of a board game. Don't get me wrong it's not a great movie, but if you're in the mood for tons of special effects with lots of explosions, you might be in for a good time. It's kind of like a mashup of Transformers, Top Gun, and Independence Day. It looks very slick, has tons of cliches, has great special effects, and no substance at all. There are several action sequences one after the other and it never seems to slow down. The cast does a decent job of keeping you engaged, even when the references of the board game take center stage on the open waters.